by Jason Vale
The good news is that when you stop drinking you begin to write your own script and control who you are. You do not have to go through a storm of any kind, contrary to the brainwashing. There is a door in the sky that releases you to a whole new world and the key is in your own head; you are the master of your own show. The only thing that is stopping you is fear. I could have escaped years before but fear stopped me. In fact it was the false perception created by the alcohol itself and the conditioning since birth.
Another way to see beyond the false perception is mentally to step outside the cage for a minute and ask the question …
Am I a Man or a Mouse?
A mouse is put in a cage and given food, water and a liquid drug. There is a button to the side of a metal funnel where the liquid drug is dispensed and, in order for the mouse to get the drug, it must hit a button with its nose. There is food and water but, out of curiosity, the mouse hits the button. The mouse has its first dose of the drug. It squeals loudly and its body reacts horribly to the poison in the same way a human does when experiencing its first dose of a liquid drug. The scientist then removes the food and water and the mouse is left only with the drug. Having no choice, the mouse then hits the button and drinks the liquid drug. After a while it goes back and hits the button again during the withdrawal period, in other words, as the drug is leaving the mouse’s body. The mouse does not have the same reaction to the drug. This time it does not squeal and appears to have no adverse physical reaction to it. In truth, the mouse now feels slightly better than it did a moment before as the drug has now momentarily suppressed the feeling that it caused. The mouse has no idea but the liquid drug is designed to destroy its central nervous system. The mouse hits the button again during the withdrawal period and feels better than the moment before.
The scientist then puts the food and water back into the cage. The mouse takes some but then goes straight for the button. After a while the mouse ignores the food and water altogether and just continues to hit the button. In no time at all you start to see the mouse’s body shaking. When it hits the button, it stops shaking and very quickly its nervous system begins to be affected again. When the shakes start again, what does the mouse do? Hits the button! Does the mouse feel better? Yes, but only better than it did a moment before and nowhere near as good as it felt before it started to push the button in the first place. The poor mouse has no idea that its central nervous system is slowly being destroyed by the drug and is tricking the mouse into thinking that it is helping. The more it shakes, the more it hits the button; the more it hits the button, the more it shakes. The mouse builds up such a tolerance to the drug that even when it hits the button it still shakes, just slightly less than before. After a while the mouse just continues to hit the button, hit the button and hit the button, until it dies.
This is an actual experiment routinely carried out in drug tests. I do not condone this type of practice but when I saw this experiment it dawned on me that this was exactly what I was doing when I was hooked. Once you hit the button a couple of times you really do become the mouse but, just like the mouse, you cannot see it while you are pushing the button. The drug appears to have the opposite effect to what it is really doing. The alcohol was suppressing my nervous system so much that in the end I believed I could not enjoy myself or be as confident without a drink. The insecurities I had were caused by the alcohol. It was the drug and only the drug that had done that to me. Now I am out of the cage it is easy to see. This book is about stepping outside yourself so you can see what is really happening. If the mouse had that opportunity to see what it was actually doing, do you think it would continue? The mouse doesn’t have the rational sense to analyse its actions but human beings do.
So the question really is, are you a HuMan or a Mouse? Well then, it’s time to …
Lose Your Bottle and Gain Your Courage
Just like the mouse and the scientist I now realise that I only had to look at other drunken people to know that alcohol doesn’t actually do anything. But I was a mouse and under the influence. I believed in the alcohol world; a Truman-like world within a world. A world that had created a set of false fears to con me into thinking that I couldn’t escape; a world that deluded me into thinking I could not enjoy life or manage without it. I had the bottle but had lost my true confidence. When I finally lost my bottle (and the can!), I regained it.
One of the greatest joys of being totally free is actually to be in a position where any moments of stress have once again become exciting challenges. As you are now aware, alcohol causes stress: physical, mental, emotional and financial. Because I am now physically, mentally, emotionally and financially much better off than before, I can easily deal with stress as it happens, instead of doing an impression of an ostrich every time a challenge comes along. More importantly, I do not have as much stress to deal with anyway. Once you are free you gain true courage and have true confidence again which means that you are a lot more capable of dealing with anything that happens. Stress only becomes stress if you are not strong enough to cope and, if you are slave to a drug like alcohol, you will always be more mentally and physically depressed than you ever would as a person that doesn’t need to drink.
It is so wonderful to be able genuinely to relax with a totally calm and unstressed mind and body. No more effects of the drug itself, or stress of trying to get over the symptoms of the drug, or stress of feeling guilty because I needed the drug or stress of thinking about when I could next get it. Am I saying that you will never get stressed again once you stop drinking? No, of course not. There are good and bad days whether you are a drinker or a person who doesn’t drink but, physically and mentally, you will be so much stronger that the highs will be that much higher and the lows nowhere near as low as they used to be. If somebody smashes into my car I don’t say, ‘That’s OK, I’m a non-drinker,’ I still get upset. The difference is that now I am much better equipped to deal with it and I do not feel the need to turn to a drug to solve that problem. I now turn to a mechanic. It’s so nice to be the scientist and not the mouse.
The truth is that when you put your mind outside the cage you soon start to see the obvious. The only reason why the mouse was hitting the button was to try to end a low. The only reason why people drink alcohol is also to try to end a low. Perhaps the low is lack of self-confidence, courage or self-respect. They may drink to help with inhibition, shyness, insecurity, lack of concentration, stress, boredom, deprivation or just plainly and simply to end the low of not being able to enjoy themselves without the drug. The problem is that alcohol causes all of these lows. It never genuinely relieves them or solves them. It is so clear when you look at it with an open mind. The relaxing drinks are the ones taken at relaxing times. The drinks that make you happy are taken at happy times. The drink never changes, only the situations. It is always the situation that is special, never the drink.
Alcohol had destroyed my courage and confidence so subtly over so many years that I wasn’t aware of it but all the time I thought it was doing the opposite. I had been conditioned to believe that alcohol helps people to enjoy their lives; that it helps give them courage, helps them relax and gives them confidence. I now see very clearly that they are not particularly happy, relaxed or more confident with alcohol but very miserable, insecure and certainly not relaxed without it. The alcohol itself simply creates all the illusions and, backed up by the massive brainwashing that’s gone on, we believe these illusions to be true. It is such a clever confidence trick but that is all it is, a trick, a con.
Look at people who have never drunk alcohol. There aren’t many in this country and some of the only examples are children or those with religious constraints. There are some adults who have never had an alcoholic drink who go to parties and enjoy themselves or love a relaxing bath. They have confidence and they have courage. When you drink and are in exactly the same social situation as them, you are never happier or more relaxed than them. Nor do you have more courage or confidence than a
non-drinker. The sad reality is that you have a great deal less.
Alcohol suppresses your central nervous system, your courage, confidence and self-respect. So the person who doesn’t need to drink wins hands down every time. When they are happy it is true happiness, when they are relaxed it is true relaxation, when they are confident it is true confidence. When you drink it’s all false. Why do you feel as though you need alcohol and they don’t? It’s because of the drug itself and the indoctrination. Alcohol creates fear and insecurity and it is these feelings that keep people hooked on something that they wish they didn’t need. It is fear of many things but the worst fear that we have been conditioned to believe is that you can never be truly free from alcohol addiction. But as I will repeat once more, all these fears and insecurities are created by the drug itself and the brainwashing since birth. Once you get rid of all that brainwashing and you purge the poison from your body, all the fears are immediately removed. You never had these fears before you started taking the drug and you won’t have them again after you stop; it’s only drinkers who have them. I now no longer have these fears. I was having that drink was because of the harmful effects of the last drink. I was the mouse yet I thought I was a ‘tru’ man!
The advantages of not drinking could fill another book. As I have said, the difference is like living in another world; more money, fitness, health, energy, courage, self-confidence, ability to relax, self-respect, mental and physical vibrancy, happiness, freedom from having to exercise control over my addiction and yes, a better love life. I’m truly free.
This is something organisations like AA believe is not only hard but impossible to achieve. According to them you can stop drinking but, instead of true freedom, the best you can expect is a life in …
‘Recovery’
You may or may not have heard about ‘alcoholics’ who stop drinking and remain in ‘recovery’ for the rest of their lives. This, apparently, is one of the symptoms of being an alcoholic. One of the many books I read about alcohol was The Joy of Being Sober by Jack Mumey. In it he states quite categorically that you are different to everyone else, that you have inherited your ‘disease’ from your family and that alcoholism is in your genes. He also states throughout his book that the recovery process is hard, long and, oh yes, it never ends. He tells you this at the very start of the book and, to be honest, I think Mr Mumey should have been done under the Trade Descriptions Act for calling it The JOY of Being Sober. It sounds a riot from the start, doesn’t it?
Incidentally this isn’t the only book that refers to this ongoing ‘recovery’ period; in fact all the books on alcohol do. In any case, how long does it take to recover fully? Well here’s the problem: apparently you never can. You can only expect to achieve a satisfactory way of life, taking each day as it comes, according to leading experts in alcoholism. So why can’t we ever recover? It is because there is apparently no cure for this disease. When you confront these ‘experts’ and ask them what disease they are talking about, they simply say ‘alcoholism.’ When I ask them to explain what is the cause of the disease, they tell me the answer is not clear but that once you have the disease there is no cure. They go on to say that maybe once we establish the cause we can begin finding a cure. Find the cause? Hellooooo, is there anybody home? What are ‘they’ talking about? Do you really have to have a BA Honours in common sense to figure out that alcohol is the cause of the disease? If somebody takes heroin regularly or smokes cigarettes, do we say that the answer is not clear? Do we say that we do not know what the cause is? Of course it’s clear, it’s very clear.
The actual chemical addiction to alcohol is a disease in itself and I agree with that. If you want to call the disease alcoholism, fine, but the disease can only get worse while you are still taking the drug. The disease can also only be there while you are taking the drug. The disease ends the second you stop taking it. The disease is the drug. The ‘recovery’ process takes place all the time when you are drinking alcohol as the body desperately tries to heal itself, not when you aren’t. The disease has completely gone the very second you purge it from your mind and body. What is so difficult to understand about that?
They say that you are never really cured but in recovery for the rest of your life. This is because if you have just one drink then it will trigger the ‘disease’ again. If you cannot be cured in the first place, then you must still have the disease even when you are not drinking, so how can it start again if you have a drink? How can something start again if, apparently, it could never be stopped in the first place? Even the experts’ own arguments don’t make sense. By their rationale, every person on the planet was born with a disease called ‘heroinism.’ If you were to start taking heroin, then the chances are you will want to take more and more. It would destroy you mentally and physically and affect every area of your life but, please remember, if the drug takes hold it’s not actually the drug that is the problem, it’s you. The problem lies in the fact that you were born with this disease called heroinism. Who in their right mind would believe such rubbish? This recovery nonsense has nothing whatsoever to do with people’s genetic make-up, character or personality. It is simply mental deprivation because they believe they are missing out on a genuine pleasure or crutch. I hate to simplify it but it really is that simple.
Can you imagine somebody falling into quicksand and afterwards their rescuer saying, ‘Now, I am afraid to tell you that you are not truly free. You are now in “recovery” from quicksand which will last for the rest of your life. It is not going to be easy as you will always want to jump back in. You will have a constant battle with yourself every day for the rest of your life but you must understand that you are not able to jump back in because, if you do, you will probably sink and die. You must make a vow to yourself that you are going to stay on firm ground for one day. Just one day and that is today. Take each day as it comes but always remember, once a quicksand sinker always a quicksand sinker.’ To which you might reply, ‘But that will mean spending the rest of my life wishing I could jump into quicksand with the knowledge that it will destroy me if I do. I feel as if I’m in a no-win situation. Does quicksand do this to everyone who jumps in?’ Their answer would be, ‘No I am sorry to say, you are the problem, not the quicksand. It is in your genetic make-up – you were born a quicksand sinker.’
Perhaps this sounds a little stupid but then so is the whole business of recovery. Maybe you are thinking, ‘Why would you go through the rest of your life wanting to jump back into the quicksand when you know what it is like and have already been pulled free?’ That’s a very good question but why would you want to inflict a disease on yourself after you have already been cured of that same disease? Why would anybody want to have a disease anyway?
This recovery is nothing more or less than the willpower method of trying to come off any drug. With other drugs it’s called willpower; with alcohol it’s called recovery. Why? Because we have been so brainwashed and conditioned to believe that the imbibing of alcohol is normal and people who cannot control their intake are not normal. The only logical thing to say is that they have a disease but, as I have illustrated, there is no such thing as a normal drinker and nobody is ever in control; it’s just plain drug addiction and drug addiction is a disease in itself. The normal drinker already has the disease, they just don’t realise it. The people who realise are labelled alcoholics.
The reason why the willpower method is so difficult is because the person stopping believes they are making a genuine sacrifice. They really believe they are giving up a genuine pleasure or crutch so the second they say ‘I am never going to drink again’ they feel very psychologically deprived. Think about it logically. Even if the person doesn’t drink again but believes they are missing out on a pleasure or crutch, the feeling of deprivation can be there, not just for that day, but for the rest of their lives. It is this and this alone – the waiting, the doubting and the uncertainty – that people call ‘recovery.’ Is it any wonder that someone who stop
s drinking after being told they are not normal feels miserable? What a prospect and what a disincentive to being free of your addiction.
When you actually confront the experts about where this recovery takes place and where it hurts, they don’t actually know. They will go on about the DTs but even a lot of that is caused by the mental deprivation. Besides, they only last for a few days, if they happen at all, so where is the problem after that? It’s purely psychological and is caused only by the feeling of deprivation; no more, no less.
This explains why there are some people who haven’t had a drink in years but are still pining for one. In fact, unlike smoking where there are now millions of ex-smokers out there who don’t miss cigarettes, with drink, not only does around 80 per cent of the UK population drink the stuff and believe the illusions and brainwashing but the 20 per cent who don’t are largely made up of whinging ex-drinkers.
I attended an AA meeting many years ago at which I heard a complete diatribe of sheer gloom, doom and misery. I must stress once more that AA has helped many, many people and not all their meetings are like this. Some can be very entertaining but I also believe that there is no need to go to a building every week, state your name and complain about no longer having to drink. It would be a lot more understandable if they went somewhere every week and shouted at the tops of their voices, ‘Isn’t it great, I don’t have to drink any more!’ The first person in this AA meeting stood up and said, ‘I am John, I am an alcoholic.’ It turned out that he hadn’t had a drink in twenty years! Twenty years, yet he still said that there wasn’t a day that went by when he didn’t miss it. Miss what? There is simply nothing to miss. The pleasure or crutch of alcohol is merely an illusion based on the removal of natural fears and years upon years of advertising, conditioning and brainwashing. Think about this for a moment, twenty long years and probably until the day he dies, that poor man has been and is probably still mourning something he hopes he will never have again. Now that is a ludicrous and intolerable way to go through life, isn’t it?